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Intimate partner violence is a severe public health and human rights issue that 1 in 3 women experience in their lifetime. A woman's knowledge and attitudes towards intimate partner violence might influence her experience of violence from an intimate partner. This study aimed at analysing the knowledge and attitudes of antenatal mothers towards intimate partner violence. This study employed a descriptive cross-sectional technique. Pregnant women seeking antenatal care were selected from 6 public healthcare facilities in the Gambian Upper River Region (URR). We used the single proportion formula to calculate the sample size, which was 373 women. Data were entered, cleaned and analysed using SPSS version 21.Majority of the participants had good knowledge about IPV (77%). The most common intimate partner violence known to the women was denial of money to hurt her (80.2%). Only 58% of the women knew that a male partner's insistence on knowing their whereabouts at all times and expecting them to seek permission before accessing healthcare is a form of violence. Eighty-seven per centof the participants had a negative attitude towards IPV (i.e., they were not precisely against the stated forms of violence perpetrated by their partners). When asked about what would warrant them to leave their partners, 67% claimed they would never leave their partners despite facing violence. According to 36% of the respondents, women stay in abusive marriages because of their children.Despite the relatively high knowledge of pregnant women on IPV, their attitudes tell a different story, which is: acceptance of violent behaviours from their partners. More work needs to be done to sensitise women on their rights not to be violated and engage the whole society in changing the social norms unfavourable to them.

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Background: The Ghana Neglected Tropical Diseases control program aimed to raise population awareness on soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections and achieve a 100% coverage of preventive chemotherapy (PCT) by 2020. This study aims at determining the factors associated with the knowledge of school-age children and describing their perceptions at Krachi East Municipal in Ghana. Patients and methods: It was a cross-sectional study. Children and their caregivers were selected from 8 communities following a two-stage stratified sampling. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were performed at a 5% significance level. Results: 352 children and their caregivers were surveyed, mainly from Dambai (66.48%). The median age was 11 (IQR: 9-12) years and the children aged 7-14 years. About half of the children were males (53.13%) and most caregivers were females (66.48%). Most children perceived a benefit associated with PCT (94.89%). The proportion of children perceiving a health risk did not differ significantly from those not perceiving a risk (49.72% vs 50.28%; p=0.8802). In general, children had poor knowledge (91.19% vs 8.81%; p<0.0001). Good knowledge was associated with ethnic group [Guan: aOR=3.96 95%CI 1.11-14.12; p=0.034], child age [(11-12 years: aOR=6.05 95%CI 1.21-30.22; p=0.026); (13-14 years: aOR=8.19 95%CI 1.64-40.89; p=0.010)] and caregivers' sex (Female: aOR=2.97 95%CI 1.02-8.66; p=0.046) in the adjusted model. Conclusion: Younger children and male caregivers seem to have low knowledge of intestinal worms and PCT. Therefore, they must get more attention regarding health education.

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Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a form of Gender-based violence that is a public health problem. The health outcomes of IPV have cascading effects on the family's financial, emotional, sexual, and physical wellbeing. Sub-Saharan Africa carries a significant burden of IPV. In The Gambia, domestic is prevalent, with more than 80% of the women believing that it is justified for a man to beat his wife. Men are the predominant perpetrators of IPV in the Gambia. The study employed a cross-sectional design using a qualitative approach utilizing phenomenology focused on the participants lived experiences. The study was conducted in Basse in the Upper River Region in The Gambia. The study purposefully sampled 26 respondents, all of whom were married. Semi-Structured in-depth interviews were administered to the respondents in Mandinka, Wolof and Serahuli to collect the study data. Both deductive and inductive approaches were used to develop the codebook and themes relevant to the study data. The participants expressed various ideas regarding IPV, with the general perspectives suggesting the causes, effects, and ultimate probable solutions to the phenomenon. The respondents interviewed believed that both women and men bared the responsibility of IPV. Varying connotations were placed on the individual's responsibility towards perpetrating IPV with men seen as physically and financially violent compared to women. Solutions to the IPV problem were seen as both external and internal, with government intervention being offered up as a solution. The overall response in the study indicated that there was a general understanding of IPV and a need to educate both men and women of its dangers to the overall health. The finding of this study shows that further needed on a large scale to understand the dynamics of IPV in The Gambia. This will help in designing sustainable solutions to the IPV problem.

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BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to any behavior by either a current or ex-intimate partner or would-be rejected lover that causes physical, sexual, or psychological harm. It is the most common form of violence in women's lives. According to a World Health Organization report, about 1 in 3 women worldwide experience at least one form of IPV from an intimate partner at some point in her life. In the Gambia, about 62% of pregnant women experience at least one form of violence from an intimate partner. IPV has severe physical and mental health consequences on a woman ranging from minor bodily injury to death. It also increases the risk of low birth weight, premature delivery, and neonatal death. METHODS: A health facility-based cross-sectional study design was carried out to assess the magnitude and factors associated with intimate partner violence among pregnant women seeking antenatal care in the rural Gambia. The study enrolled 373 pregnant women, and a multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. An interviewer-administered structured questionnaire was used to obtain information from the study participants. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS Ver.22. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine the association between dependent and independent variables. Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI) was computed to determine the presence and strength of associated factors with IPV. RESULT: The study reveals that the prevalence of IPV in The Gambia is 67%, with psychological violence (43%) being the most common form of IPV reported by the respondents. The multivariate logistic regression result reveals that being aged 35 years or older [AOR 5.1(95% CI 1.5-17.8)], the experience of parents quarreling during childhood [AOR 1.7(95% CI 1.0-2.75)], and having cigarette smoking partners [AOR 2.3 (95% CI 1.10-4.6)] were significantly associated with IPV during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: This study has demonstrated that all forms of IPV in rural Gambia are frequent. Women older than 35 years, had experienced parents quarreling, had a partner who smoked, and a partner who fight with others were more likely report IPV compared to other pregnant women in the study. We recommend that IPV screening should be included as an integral part of routine antenatal care services in The Gambia. Community-based interventions that include indigenous leaders, religious leaders, and other key stakeholders are crucial to create awareness on all forms of IPV and address the risk factors found to influence the occurrence of IPV in rural Gambia.

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